Barnsdall Art Park

Barnsdall Art Park is a city park located in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Parking and arts buildings access is from Hollywood Boulevard on the north side of the park. The park is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. The Barnsdall Art Park Foundation, a nonprofit organization, helps manage Barnsdall Art Park and the activities there.

Aline Barnsdall donated Barnsdall Park to the City of Los Angeles for arts and recreational purposes, including the preservation of the historic architecture and landscape features. Located at the crest of Olive Hill, Barnsdall Art Park overlooks the city of Los Angeles, and the Hollywood Hills, including Griffith Park. The park is centered on Barnsdall's Hollyhock House designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, a city and national landmark and World Heritage Site.

The site's previous owner, Aline Barnsdall, was an oil heiress from Pennsylvania who had wanted to develop an arts and live-theater complex. Before Barnsdall owned Olive Hill, it was undeveloped and had contained olive trees since the 1890s, when J. H. Spires had planted an olive grove there. Despite being close to streetcar routes, Olive Hill was not appealing to developers because it was not near either Downtown Los Angeles or central Hollywood. The hill had hosted Easter services for years before Barnsdall's acquisition of the site. At the time of Barnsdall's purchase, the olive trees were planted 18 to 20 feet (5.5 to 6.1 m) apart on a grid, and the hill was accessed by two roads from the southeast and northeast.

Barnsdall first met the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago by 1915, when she hired him to design a building for the Chicago Little Theatre. After vacationing in California, she decided to erect the theatrical building there instead. Barnsdall bought the site in June 1919, and Wright worked on designing Barnsdall's theater and house during that year. Plans for the estate were modified in 1920 to include an apartment house, a building with artists' studios and shops, additional residences, and a cinema. By 1923, Barnsdall had abandoned her plans to develop a theater on the site. Only two guest houses (Residences A and B) were built, of which only the former still exists.

In December 1923, Barnsdall offered to donate Hollyhock House to the city government so the Los Angeles Public Library and the Department of Recreation and Parks could have used the house. The offer included 10 acres (4.0 ha), covering the summit of Olive Hill and the main house. The city government initially accepted the gift but ultimately rejected it in early 1924, saying the terms of her gift were too restrictive. Despite local groups' attempts to buy the rest of Olive Hill, Barnsdall sold some land to a syndicate for $2 million in February 1924; the sale was finalized in May. Barnsdall later offered the house and the remaining land to the city again, this time with few restrictions. The city of Los Angeles accepted the gift on December 22, 1926, along with the surrounding land, which became Barnsdall Art Park. The initial donation covered 9 acres (3.6 ha). The Los Angeles Times wrote at the time that the site was "of much picturesque beauty and eminently suited to the purpose of a playground". The California Art Club leased Hollyhock House as their clubhouse for fifteen years.

Barnsdall proposed constructing a Greek amphitheater in Barnsdall Park in early 1927, which would have had 1,000 seats. Known as the Little Lattice Playhouse, the amphitheater opened in Barnsdall Park in June 1927. The same August, Barnsdall donated Residence A to the city. The donation included 2 acres (0.81 ha) of land, and Barnsdall planned to spend $200,000 erecting a community art theater nearby. Residence A reopened as a recreation building in February 1928. A playground was also added to Barnsdall Park around the same time, hosting competitions and holiday events. In addition, the city's park commission announced in 1929 that it would install ornamental lamps around Barnsdall Park, which were dedicated the next year.

In February 1931, Barnsdall offered to donate another 9.12 acres (3.69 ha) at the outer edge of the park to the city of Los Angeles, which would lease it for eight years with an option to buy it for $2 million. The city government agreed to the lease. Local residents objected, citing the fact that they would pay more taxes, and veterans' groups criticized the move because they thought Barnsdall's donation prevented the erection of war monuments. Despite this, the city government formally agreed to obtain the 9-acre plot that March, and it also agreed to lease an adjacent parcel of 12 acres (4.9 ha) for five years. Lloyd Wright designed a 400-seat children's theater and wading pool on the newly acquired land, which would replace the Little Lattice Playhouse. A city attorney invalidated the city's acquisition, claiming that the city could not enter into agreements lasting more than three years. Barnsdall offered to lease 9 acres (3.6 ha) to the city for three years; however, city park officials did not consider this suggestion.

After the city of Los Angeles rejected her donation, Barnsdall then threatened to take back ownership of the entire site, including Hollyhock House, and she sued in October 1931 to take back the land. Local residents requested in 1935 that the Los Angeles city government install picnic shelters at the park. Barnsdall sued the California Art Club in February 1938 in an attempt to take back ownership of Hollyhock House, though she agreed that October to postpone the lawsuit indefinitely. By the next year, Barnsdall tried to sell the land surrounding the house. A judge ruled in 1941 that Barnsdall could take back ownership of Residence B, while the city of Los Angeles could keep the remainder of the Olive Hill estate, including Hollyhock House. The city's land and Barnsdall's property were separated by the park's internal driveway. Barnsdall retained Residence B until her death in 1946, when she bequeathed that residence to her daughter Betty. The will specified that Betty not sell Residence B for ten years, and then not for less than $2 million.